A Heavenly Homecoming

My dear, sweet mother-in-law went to be with Jesus yesterday morning. She was at home, baking for her daughter's family, and passed away peacefully. She was 91. She had been battling health problems for some time, a result of old age, but she didn't give up. She still helped with the laundry and the cooking because she was never one to sit still for very long.

I was blessed to have known her for these past 37 years. She was a survivor. Out of nine siblings she was one of the last two still living. Now there is one. She lost a husband and two sons and still maintained her beautiful positive spirit and never lost her sense of humor. An avid hockey fan, the local hockey team called her "Team Mom" and gave her an autographed hockey jersey on her 90th birthday. She coordinated the fellowship suppers at her church for many years and looked forward to going to breakfast at the casinos where she lived. She had many friends, young and old, and kept up with countless nieces and nephews and more than a dozen grandchildren.

She always had a story to tell. The most recent one was about a "younger man in his 70's" who would sit by her in church and drive her to Walmart. She laughed at the thought of having an admirer at her age.

She called me last Friday night and left a message and ended it like she always did, "I love you".